An international magazine has caused bewilderment in Penrith after depicting life in the town as harder than that in Ukraine and using it as an example of “Broken Britain’s” post-Brexit wastelands.
The doomsday article is headlined: “Blankets, Food Banks and Shuttered Pubs: Brexiteers promised to take back control, but the decision has delivered recession, gloom, and despair.”
The “dispatch”, which it is suggested was written from Penrith, runs to more than 1,000 words and is by Liz Cookman, a Ukraine-based reporter who has been providing vivid accounts from the front-line.
Yet, astonishingly, she claims that life is “easier” in the war-ravaged territory than in “peace-shattered Penrith”. Painting a post-apocalyptic vision of Britain, the article features moody photos of Penrith’s Market Square at night, as well as a long-closed kebab shop on Castlegate.
It goes on to claim Penrith has:
- “Lines” of people queuing at food banks.
- Families “stockpiling blankets” to keep out the cold.
- People with no heating “shivering”.
- “Most” shops shutting at 4pm or not bothering to open at all.
- Pubs closing early or having given up.
“I’m not in Ukraine, where I’ve spent the last year reporting on the devastation caused by Russia’s war,” wrote Ms Cookman, whose work has featured in The Guardian, The Washington Post and other high-profile publications.
“This is life in broken Britain, a quagmire of misery and problems, where even February’s weather is predicted to be colder and glummer than usual. Working in war-torn Ukraine is easier and more comfortable (missiles aside) than trying to do the same in peace-shattered Penrith.” An estimated 8,000 civilians have been killed and 13,300 injured in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
The article has been published on the website of Foreign Policy magazine, which boasts five million visits a month. The glossy magazine, reporting on global politics and economics, also claims one million subscribers in 150 countries. An executive editor, based in Washington, has stood by the article and the writer, after being contacted by the Herald. Ms Cookman did not respond to requests for a comment.
Dispatch: Brexiteers promised that Britain would “take back control.” Almost three years later, it has delivered recession, gloom, and despair. https://t.co/RkTyypOhSJ
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) February 19, 2023
‘Where are the facts?’ ask business leaders
“It’s a lot of rubbish,” scoffed Stephen Macaulay, president of Penrith’s Chamber of Trade and Commerce.
“It paints a very bad picture of Penrith and I think it’s damaging and is so far from the truth.”
Originally from Glasgow, a city whose reputation has come under fire over the years, Mr Macaulay says that while some businesses in Penrith had closed, others had set-up here, in spite of the economic rollercoaster of the last three years.
He accepted the nationwide high street is “changing”, and the country’s retail sector is not in “the best place”. But if a journalist was looking for somewhere which had gone to the dogs after Brexit: “You wouldn’t choose Penrith” he said.
He cites retail newcomers like Elliott’s Plants to Angel Lane, and the Penrith Dress Agency in Middlegate, among others.
There was a “record” 42 entries in the Christmas shop window display, which many towns could only dream of.
The chamber too has 85 active members across retail and professional services.
Stephen himself set up his own architecture business before the pandemic and is now on the hunt for town centre premises.
He explains that some shops do close early as they are independently-owned, but that maybe because they are off to collect stock or taking a well-earned break after early starts.
The charge that “most” shops in Penrith shut early and some don’t bother opening is wide of the mark, he said.
Stephen Clarke, of Penrith, started selling products on a second-hand dresser in a Middlegate shop.
He, his wife Jane and daughter Laura, now run their own: Clarke’s Fusions, in Little Dockray.
Stephen, aged 69, said of the article: “Yes we are feeling the pinch but this is not the Penrith I know. It’s extremely unhelpful.
“Most businesses I know do not close three or four days of the week. We’ve all done well to come through the pandemic and the recession and still be here.
“I’d say Penrith is a warm, welcoming town and there’s more that’s right here than broken.”
Readers of the article might conclude Star Fruits, in Angel Lane, closed after more than 25 years because of Brexit.
Yet owner David Whipp had blamed supermarket competition. The “recent” closure of three Penrith pubs was also referenced in the article, but the premises were not identified.
The General Wolfe and The British Legion are in new hands with plans to reopen.
The Agricultural Hotel is up for sale, although its owners are retiring rather than being forced out of business. They hope for a handover before June.
As for “foodbanks”, Penrith has just one and it is run in a link-up between Penrith Methodist Church and The Salvation Army.
No-one would deny it is well-used but “lines” of people queuing for food isn’t quite the reality.
A spokeswoman confirmed this week that it had not been contacted by the writer or the magazine.
The article also stated that “Conservative-supporting Penrith” voted for Brexit “more decisively than most of the country”.
The area voted 55.2 per cent leave and 44.8 per cent remain — far down the list of big Brexit majority areas, where some backed it by more than 70 per cent. Eden Council is a Lib Dem-led coalition and the party leads the Westmorland and Furness Council.
Writer ‘knows Penrith well’ says editor
Amelia Lester, executive editor of Foreign Policy, provided a full statement to the Herald this week.
Backing both the feature and the writer, Ms Lester wrote: “We continue to stand by Liz Cookman’s reporting and experiences and are proud to publish her.”
Ms Lester, based in Washington, where there were more than 200 homicides last year, said the comparison between Penrith and Ukraine was based on the writer’s opinion.
Ms Cookman had spent much of the last year in Ukraine, but had “experiences and observations in Penrith, a place she knows well”.
“She has observed the stockpiling of blankets and also spoke to a local real estate agent who attested to this,” wrote Ms Lester. She added: “We take all such correspondence regarding possible errors very seriously indeed.
“Some other statements draw on well-documented phenomena. Demand at the Penrith food bank has been documented in the local press, as has the fact that local businesses have been suffering from a labour shortage.
“Of course, there is rarely one single reason why a shop closes, but it seems reasonable to suggest these factors contribute to a difficult environment for businesses.
“Regarding city versus town, we are an American publication and the US Census Bureau’s definition of urban, is when a place has more than 5,000 people. This particular disagreement on terminology may be a result of cultural differences.”
Of Brexit, Ms Lester said: “We are comfortable with Liz’s characterization, which does not exclude the possibility of other regions voting to leave at a higher rate still.”
The only correction made was to a claim that a return bus fare from Penrith to Keswick was £24, when it was, in fact, £12.40.
Jo Lappin, chief executive of the Cumbria LEP based in Penrith, said: “This is certainly not the place that I know and recognise. Penrith is a lovely market town.”
